Crimes of the heart
by iMissa
Summary: Haruno Sakura works in Homicide for NYPD, and she's seen some stuff she shouldn't have. This death, however, is different, because of Uchiha Sasuke, the victim's neighbor, the guy Sakura seems to have feelings for...and the main suspect. [SasuSaku]
1. The life of a cop

**Disclaimer- I, quite sadly, don't own Naruto. I don't even own the idea to how the victim dies: that right belongs to Nora Roberts, since I got the idea from her book Visions of Death. I, uhm... I own a mousepad. That's just about it.**

The loud buzzing of an alarm clock is what woke Haruno Sakura up first. Rolling over, she glanced quickly at her clock, 4:30 glaring at her accusingly in glowing red letters. Grunting, she turned off the alarm button and stood up, shaking back her long hair and stretching before heading into the shower.

By the time she got out, it was a quarter after. Dressing quickly in her standard Police uniform, she grabbed a quick cup of coffee, feeling more energized than she would've with ten showers.

Climbing into her car, Sakura made it to work with three minutes to spare. Inwardly breathing a sigh of relief, Sakura entered the building of the NYPD. Even though the pay was crap, and the traffic sucked ass (and Sakura wasn't a very patient woman) she had grown up in New York, and she had always wanted to be a cop; therefore, the choice was obvious.

"You know, you almost cost me twenty bucks." A voice called out to her, and Sakura turned her head, facing the grinning face of Inuzuka Kiba, her partner. The female raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Cause I had a bet going with Shikamaru that you'd be late." Nara Shikamaru was their hacker (though he was really the person who gained the information on suspects, but they taunted him that sometimes the methods through which he _gained _such information wasn't exactly the most legal) and also the laziest bastard Sakura knew, but she liked him. He was also dating on of her best friends, Yamanaka Ino, so it _was _kind of hard to dislike him.

Sakura rolled her eyes, sitting down in her chair and booting up her computer. "Gee, thanks Kiba, you're _such _a great pal." She said sarcastically, and Kiba grinned at her.

"That's what I'm here for, darling." Sakura sighed, not replying as she brought up a couple of files.

"Anything happening?" She called to her brown-haired partner.

"Nope. But give it a break, Sak, it's just 6:15 in the morning. Even criminals have to sleep."

Sakura sighed and ran a hand through her long pink hair. "Kiba," she said patiently, in the same voice an adult would use on a particularly slow child, "I have been woken up at three in the morning because someone got a little bit too gun-happy. I sincerely doubt another three hours would matter to them."

Kiba scowled at her tone of voice and turned back to his computer with dignity, though Sakura saw him accidentally smack his foot on the edge of his desk. Smirking smugly and trying not to laugh, Sakura did the same, looking up all of the unsolved cases and wondering if she could get Sarutobi-sama, her boss, to allow her to go on one of the cases. After all, it was better than sitting here and doing nothing but deskwork.

"Oh, and by the way, Aki called." Kiba called over his shoulder as he got up and was a considerable distance from Sakura's infamous right hook. "I told him that the last time I saw you, you were walking out of here with some really handsome guy."

Sakura considered throwing her high-heel at him, then considered an angry Sarutobi-sama when he saw the blood on the wall.

Kiba grinned smugly at her before walking out. Sakura sighed, leaning back in her swivel chair and leaning her head back, watching with detached interest as her hair swished around. Finally deciding to stop putting off the inevitable, Sakura called Aki, whose full name was Akihiro, and he just so happened to be her older brother.

The green-eyed female listened for five minutes to the angry buzzing of her brother's voice before she interjected. "Aki, I worked overtime last night because of the freaking paperwork. I didn't leave here until close to midnight, and I went home and finally got some sleep, just like you told me to. I wasn't having sex with one of my co-workers, Kiba was just yanking your chain and trying to get to you." Sakura listened as her brother ranted about what he was going to do Kiba when he next saw him, but she cut him off when one of his ideas involved her partner's manhood and a scalpel. Seriously, there were some things she just did _not _need to know.

"So, you promise you weren't with any men last night, Sak?" Her brother asked, and despite herself, Sakura smiled. Aki was just four years older than herself (she always teased him because he was 32 and she was a mere 28) but he played the overprotective brother role quite well. Though, it was understandable: after their father had died, Aki had been the one taking care of her. It was right for him to be worried about her.

"I promise, there were no men." She heard Aki breath a sigh of relief before she grinned devilishly. "There might've been some women, though."

"SAKURA!" Aki yelled, and his sister laughed loudly. "Goddammit, don't _scare _me like that. That's not even funny, man. Do you KNOW what it would do to me if you turned out to be a lesbian?"

"God, Aki," Sakura rolled her eyes playfully, "nice to know you'd have my back if I ever DID get sick of men." Her brother laughed.

"Hey, why don't you come over my apartment for dinner tonight? You can't live off McDonalds forever."

"Watch me." Sakura teased. "Alright, well, I'll call you after I get done with work, okay? It shouldn't be TOO busy, so I'll probably be able to get off by like, three, hopefully."

"Your boss is a slave driver," grumbled Aki, but it had no bite to it: Sarutobi-sama was actually a very nice guy, and it was always _Sakura _who put in the extra hours, and they both knew it. "Okay, ring me when you're finished."

"Will do. Bye." Sakura hung up just as Kiba entered. She glared at him. "God do I hate you." He lifted up two cups of coffee from Dunkin Donuts, one for her and one for him. "God do I love you." Kiba laughed and handed her one of them. Sakura took a sip and sighed in happiness. "There should be a shrine to coffee."

Kiba's brown eyes twinkled at her in amusement. "Imagine what would happen if they made coffee illegal. You'd have to register as an addict."

Sakura scoffed. "Oh please, there'd be no one to report TO, I'd kill all of them." Again Kiba laughed.

"Hear, hear. I'll drink to that." They pressed their styrofoam cups together and took a drink of the hot liquid.

"Eh, think we should get to work and actually _earn _our money?" Kiba asked, with his feet propped up on his desk and leaning back on his chair, drinking the coffee. Sakura yawned and shrugged, crossing her legs and putting the bottom of the cup on her knee.

"Probably. After all, we gotta have _some _way to kill the time, right?" Kiba sighed and ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair.

"Yeah, I guess so." And so, it was with much reluctance, that the two returned to the paperwork that was piled up next to them.

Hours later, Sakura's communicator **(A/N- Or, at least, I **_**think **_**it's a communicator. Correct me if I'm wrong.)** beeped. "Lieutenant."

Sakura picked it up. "Lieutenant Haruno speaking. What's up, Lin?"

"You and Detective Inuzuka better get down here… it's pretty bad." Sakura quirked an eyebrow and looked at Kiba, who put his hands together and mouthed 'Thank you!' at the ceiling. Sakura bit back the urge to chuckle.

"Okay, we're on our way. Where are you?" He told her the directions. "Roger that." Sakura looked at Kiba. "Ready?"

"Hell YES. Let's blow this joint."

---

It only took them fifteen minutes, including morning traffic. Kiba swore to God that it was because Sakura was a psycho driver; Sakura retorted that it was because she put on the sirens. After all, Lin DID say it was bad. Kiba said that she was just abusing her cop privileges. He now had a nice lump on his head for his comment.

"Lin," Sakura addressed the Homicide department's investigator. Mark Lin greeted Sakura and Kiba.

"The victim was found by the rocks, and her body was posed particularly. Her killer wanted her to be in such a position, symbolism."

Kiba went down first because some of the rocks were slippery, and helped Sakura down. She took his hand until they had settled on the sand, and then the three of them turned towards the body.

"Victim was found by a few joggers passing by. They noticed something weird by the water and went to go check it out and found her."

Sakura crouched down by the victim. "Hmm…" she hummed. "Any I.D?"

"No, whoever killed her took everything of hers with him."

"Time of death?"

"Due to the postmortem, I'm guessing somewhere between midnight and one am."

The girl had long, blond hair that was now stained scarlet with blood. Her hands were between her naked breasts, posing in a prayer. There was a red ribbon tied around her neck-- making Sakura conclude that the reason of death was strangulation-- and the bastard who had murdered her had precariously cut out her eyes.

"Kiba," she said softly, "come here." He obeyed, coming to crouch beside her as Sakura took out a mini flashlight and peered into her eye sockets. "The ribbon on her neck. Thoughts?"

Kiba stared hard at it, his face pensive. "Red for love, perhaps? Maybe passion."

Sakura shook her head. "I don't think so." She shined the light on the female's neck, and in the light it was more of a scarlet tint.

"Scarlet is for whores." Said Kiba, and Sakura nodded. "And her hands… praying. Praying for forgiveness for being a whore?"

"Possible. Maybe she works as a stripper, offended the killer somehow, and he raped and killed her."

Sakura's eyes traveled along the length of the victim's body, noting the dark bruises that lined her skin, particularly on her thighs. Craning her head, Sakura looked at her and noticed the little cuts and bruises lining her hands and her elbows. "But she fought him off. Tried to defend herself. See?" Kiba looked at her hands and nodded. Sakura started to take pictures of the body, and Kiba turned her over to lay on her back.

"He dragged her," he pointed out. "Look at her knees: they have grass stains on them. My guess is that she was cutting through some park-- Central, maybe-- after work, the guy attacked her, beat her, dragged her off, raped her, carried her here and took everything with him, her clothes, jewelry, wallet, anything that could have his prints on them or that would allow us to know who she is."

"Mhmm…" Sakura agrees, snapping a few more pictures before she turned back to Lin. "Alright, bag her body and notify me on her identity." Lin nodded and Sakura and Kiba headed back to the cruiser.

"Do you really think she's a stripper?" Kiba asked as he took a seat in the passenger side and Sakura started the car.

"I don't think so, her body didn't really have that whole stripper look, but I could be wrong."

"Stripper look?" Kiba asked, and Sakura nodded as she drove back to the office, cutting off a few people.

"Yeah. You know, the perfect breasts, long legs, stuff like that."

"Well, not ALL strippers look like that." Kiba protested, and Sakura shot him an amused and sly look out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh yeah? And how would _you _know?" Kiba blushed and didn't answer.

---

"Call me when you identify the body, okay?" Sakura asked Lin, who was busy studying their victim. Lin nodded absentmindedly, and Sakura waved to Kiba on her way out. She climbed into her car, and called her brother.

"Hey. I'm just getting out of work now."

"Good. I just put the ham in the oven, and the carrots are almost done." Aki's voice sounded cheerful, and Sakura felt guilty; she hadn't been to her brother's apartment in a month or so because of work.

"Carrots?" She asked suspiciously, and Aki laughed.

"Honey-glazed, your favorite Sak, so don't worry."

"Mmm…" Her brother laughed again. "Do you want me to change before I get to your house?"

"Nah, I don't care. Besides, I have clothes here for you, so you can change into those."

"Okay. I'll seen you in fifteen minutes."

"Gotcha. Bye Sak." Sakura hung up and glanced at herself in the mirror.

There were some disgusting people in New York, that much was true, but the girl had been _mutilated_.

Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the sickest of them all?

* * *

**A/N- Alright, this is just a little experiment of mine to see how well I can write a mystery fanfic. I really SHOULDN'T be writing this, since I have FOMD and TCOD to work on, but hey, plot bunnies are evil. Since this is my first mystery AU story, constructive crit is muchly appreciated, especially with the names of the jobs for people in homicide. So, please review!**


	2. A siblings love

**Disclaimer: Fat chance, man.**

**Dedication: animevivverz, who totally rocks my world and gave me all the information I need for this story. Thanks a bunch!**

Sakura pulled into her brother's driveway, then stopped the car and checked her hair in the mirror before exiting and walking up to the door. She hadn't even rung the doorbell before the door was being pulled open and Sakura found herself in a giant bear hug.

"Sakura!" Her brother's happy tones echoed in her head while she swore she felt one of her ribs crack.

"Aki." She choked out, and he let go, smiling sheepishly at her and rumpling the back of his head.

"Haha, sorry." He said apologetically, and it was then that Sakura got her first good look at the eldest in a while: his dark locks were still rumpled, and his bright green eyes, the exact shade of hers, shone with mirth and happiness. He was dressed casually, but still nicely, and Sakura looked down at her uniform crusted with dried blood with a tiny nagging feeling of guilt.

Aki laughed and grabbed her hand, pulling her into the nicely-furnished apartment that he had only had for a few months. Sakura distinctively remembered him being so excited, since he had been promoted at his job and, thus, had been given a raise, so he had enough money to buy his own apartment.

"Don't worry, I have clothes for you here, remember?" Sakura smiled as her brother gently pushed her into the room he had designed for her, her bedroom should she ever want to spend the night. (Or if she was too drunk to drive home, which didn't happen often, since her hours for work rarely allowed her to, but there were times where it DID happen.)

Rummaging through the dresser Aki had bought her, Sakura slipped on a black knee-length skirt and a green halter shirt, along with black high-heeled sandals, and pulled her long hair into a half-ponytail.

Aki knocked on the door twice, and then opened it when Sakura yelled for him to come in. He smiled as he surveyed her. "Jesus, you actually look like a lady for once." He joked, then winced when his sister punched him in the arm. "You know I'm only kidding. Anyway, dinner's done." He looked down and raised an eyebrow. "Why the hell are you wearing shoes?"

Sakura shrugged. "They go with the outfit." She explained, and Aki snorted before shaking his head.

"Women." He muttered under his breath.

"Men." Said Sakura mockingly, and he pinched her on the arm, causing Sakura to yelp and kick him.

"Ow! High-heels hurt!"

"Yes, they _are _rather efficient weapons, aren't they?" Sakura said affectionately, and her brother shot her a weird look. "Hey, they ARE. I've gotten out of quite a few situations with the help of some spectacular pairs of high-heels."

"Bet they hurt like a bitch and gave you blisters."

"Hell yes."

Aki laughed and, like the perfect gentleman he was, pulled out the chair for Sakura. She dipped her head in acknowledgement and the dark-haired male walked into the kitchen before returning with a cutting board that held the sliced ham, and continued to walk back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room, each time bringing back more and more plates.

Sakura laughed. "Are you serious, Aki? It's just me and you; we'll never finish ALL of this."

In retaliation, Aki poked her flat stomach mockingly. "I need to fatten you up, you don't eat properly since you're ALWAYS working."

Sakura inwardly winced in guilt; it was true, she DID work a lot. "Well, what're you gonna do, eat me?"

Her brother rolled his eyes. "Sak, this isn't Hansel and Gretel, and nor am I some old, ugly, blind witch. Besides, I don't think my apartment is made out of candy, and nor do I want to lure small children into my home."

"Michael Jackson." Sakura teased, and Aki scowled.

"Watch it missy, I might poison your wine for that smart comment." Sakura smiled innocently, and Aki snorted but continued to serve the dinner.

When everything was finally on the table, Aki sat down and Sakura began to pile food on her plate. "Mmm… Ak, this is _so good_." Aki smiled in a pleased way.

"I'm glad you like it. Then again, you'll eat just about anything, especially that crap you call food."

"Hey, McDonalds is very good! They have good coffee!" Sakura defended, but knew her brother was right; Sakura didn't have much time to cook anymore, so she normally got something from some fast food place, whatever was open at the time. McDonalds, Wendys, Burger King, KFC, whatever she was in the mood for. Or whatever was closest. She normally just scarfed down the food before continuing to do her job, which she did _damn _well.

Aki rolled his eyes, and it was like looking into a mirror. "Seriously, Sak, you need to eat NORMAL food, not just a burger that they've had in storage the entire day." Sakura wrinkled her nose and shoved a forkful of peas into her mouth for lack of any comeback.

Sakura leaned back in the chair, patting her stomach. "I can't eat another bite. I might explode, and then you'd have my guts and food all over your nice white walls."

Her brother sighed. "Sometimes, I wish you'd give me less details. You should probably stop watching so many horror movies."

"They're entertaining." Sakura replied, shrugging.

"I'll bet; when that girl died in Freddy vs. Jason, you started laughing."

"Well, she was a slut! Seriously, she comes out of the lake, TOTALLY NAKED, and is giggling in that stupid bimbo-y way and calling for her boyfriend. She was practically _begging _to be killed, especially at night in the woods." The female retorted, defending one of her favorite hobbies. (Watching horror movies, not watching stupid sluts die. Though that _was _half the enjoyment.)

Aki shook his head and started to clear off the table. Sakura helped him and a couple minutes later they were done. She tried to help him wash the dishes, but he wouldn't hear of it. "Good," grunted Sakura, "cause I _really _gotta pee."

Aki laughed. "So ladylike." He teased, but the truth was, Sakura _wasn't. _For as long as she could remember, it had just been her, Aki, and their father; their mother had died when Sakura was only three, and Aki had taught Sakura how to throw her first punch when she was seven, so that she could defend herself. Sakura had never cared much for nail polish or making her hair more glossy, and she only saw boys as friends, nothing more, unlike the girls who twirled their hair and giggled and flirted so obnoxiously.

Sakura wrinkled her nose at the thought and then wandered off to go find his bathroom.

"Jesus, I never knew drinking five cups of coffee could be murder on your bladder." She muttered, washing her hands. She exited the nicely-decorated bathroom and listened intently; she heard the running water, meaning her brother was still washing dishes, and she smirked before walking off.

She opened the first door she found, knowing instinctively what room this one was.

The dusk had settled, so she flipped on the light but closed her eyes, inhaling deeply and then opening her lids again.

Statues and paintings faced her, some half-finished, some Aki was obviously still working on, and some that were finished; those that _were _finished were by the wall, and Sakura's attention was immediately caught by the sculpture of a woman. Walking over, Sakura inspected it.

The woman's hair was up and was coiled loosely; a wreath adorned her head, one that looked like a crown of ivy leaves. A tunic of some sort was wrapped around her body; it wrapped around her shoulders, curved underneath her breasts and ran off to the right, showing off a good portion of her left ribcage and the middle of her stomach, then returned to her left side and molded themselves into her hips before the tunic stopped at her lower thighs, by her knees.

"Athena, probably." Sakura mused; she and her brother both had the same fetish for Roman Gods and Goddesses, and Aki liked to sculpt the Roman Goddesses especially.

Walking around the room and looking at all the different sculptures, including one of her that made Sakura smile, she walked over to the paintings. One was covered, and feeling particularly nosy, she rose the sheet.

The first thing that caught her eye was a beautiful woman. Her hair was midnight black, and curled softly around her shoulders, coming to rest underneath her breasts. Green eyes smiled at the camera, and she was wearing a gray sleeveless turtleneck. Black dress pants adorned her slim legs, and Sakura knew that where the camera had cut it off, there were black pumps that were on her feet.

Standing next to her was a man with light blond hair, so light it almost looked white, but Sakura knew better. He had warm brown eyes, and the happiness practically shone through. He had an arm wrapped around the woman's shoulder, and both their smiles were easygoing, not fake in the least, though the picture had been done professionally, judging from the blue backdrop in the background. He wore a blue sweater over black slacks, and black dress shoes that were hidden from view.

In front of them were two children; the oldest was sitting down and smiling, a boy with messy black locks and a goofy smile on his face. In between his legs was a little girl dressed in a pink dress and looking confused, bright green focused on her older brother. The little girl's pink hair was up in a messy ponytail, baby fine, the way a toddler's was.

"I didn't realize you still had this picture." Sakura commented to the air.

"You thought I threw it out?" A voice inquired, and Sakura shrugged, turning to face Aki, who was leaning against the doorway, arms crossed and looking at her with an eyebrow raised.

"I thought it might've gotten lost in the move, or something."

"More like hoped." Aki muttered, and Sakura glowered at him. "Alright, come on, I got us dessert. Chocolate chip cookie dough, with chocolate syrup on it, your favorite Sak."

"Siren." Sakura sulked, and her brother laughed.

"So what's going on with work?" Aki asked, as Sakura scooped up some ice cream and licked it off her spoon.

"You really wanna know, while we're eating?" The viridian-eyed female inquired, and Aki nodded.

"Give it to me straight."

Sakura ate some more of her ice cream while she thought up a way to say it. "Well, we found a girl that had been murdered earlier. Whoever killed her did so specifically; her hands were by her breasts, her throat was bound with a red ribbon, her eyes were cut out, and she was posed in a prayer." Sakura looked at Aki. "Any theories as of to why?"

Her brother shook his head regretfully. "Sorry, I don't. You know I've never been good with religion and stuff." He smiled sheepishly, and Sakura laughed. "What else do you know about her? Maybe she's a stripper, or a prostitute, who irritated a client."

"That's what I thought, too." Sakura mused, sucking on her spoon thoughtfully. Then, she shrugged, and finished off her ice cream. "Well, I'll find out tomorrow, and to be clear-headed-"

"And drugged up on coffee."

"I need a good nights sleep." Sakura said, ignoring Aki's interruption. "So I'll go, but I'll call you tomorrow, or something."

Aki pouted, but then relented. "Well, okay. Keep me posted about the case."

Sakura nodded absentmindedly while she got up, heading to her bedroom so that she could get her uniform. "Sure thing. Just don't keep me in the dark about any more sculptures of me, okay?" She winked teasingly, and Aki looked at her in exasperation.

"That sculpture of you was _supposed _to be your birthday present, but you just _had _to be nosy and go snooping." Sakura smiled. Her and Aki had always been close, and sometimes, in a world like this, she was glad for it. Sakura had been there for him when he discovered his passion for sculpture and the arts, and he had been there for her when she decided to become a cop after the death of her best friend.

She turned around and walked towards the bedroom, her thoughts now plagued with thoughts of her best friend, who had been killed ten years ago; he had been openly gay, and the person who killed him got charged with First Degree Murder and a hate crime.

Her heart squeezed painfully when thoughts of James swirled in her head; in a lot of ways, he reminded her of her brother, which is probably why they became friends in the first place. Sakura wouldn't have made it through Middle School if she had never met James.

Shaking her head, she picked up her uniform and headed out the door. "You know, I can always just clean that and give it to you sometime this week, or whenever you're free." Aki offered when she stepped into the living room.

Sakura paused and looked down; she never really got a chance to do laundry much, and Aki was actually better at doing homely stuff like this.

"Alright." She relented, and her brother smiled, taking the uniform from her.

"It'll be spotless when you get it back, I promise."

"Better be." She grunted, and Aki grinned, shaking his head. Sakura leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "You're the best. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"You'd better." Her brother chastised, and Sakura saluted him mockingly before exiting the apartment, a wide smile decorating her face.

---

Sakura's phone rang, and a hand reached out and grabbed it from its cradle, dragging it underneath the covers. "Hello?" She asked grumpily, voice thick with sleep.

"Good morning Miss America!" A cheerful voice yelled, and Sakura winced.

"Kiba, I am trying to _sleep_, like a _normal person_. What time is it?"

"Five. And Lin identified the girl, so I suggest you get your butt in the office."

Sakura yawned widely and regretfully pushed back the covers, standing up and shivering; apparently, wearing short pajama shorts and a tank top to bed in the middle of September was officially _not _a good idea.

"Alright, give me fifteen minutes."

"I'm holding a steaming hot cup of coffee that has your name written all over it."

"Scratch that; I'll be there in five."

Kiba laughed.

---

Feeling much better now that she had some caffeine in her system, Sakura observed as Lin removed the sheet from the girl's body.

"Alright, she was definitely raped and beaten, and you guys were right; she tried to fight back. Her name is Holly Thorton, and she lives on 13 West Ave, apartment 10."

Sakura nodded and looked at Kiba, who was still looking at the female's naked body.

"I still think she's a stripper."

* * *

**A/N- Alright, I know this is kinda filler-ish, but it's more for some background information and Sakura, and to show her relationship with her brother, which will be important in later chapters, since it's just the two of them now. And no, nee-chan, they're **_**not **_**going to have a more-than-brother-and-sister relationship, sorry xD. Don't worry, Sasuke and Naruto appear in the next chapter. Anyway, I'm **_**incredibly **_**happy with the reviews I got. Keep 'em comin! **


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